п»ї 44: The LovinвЂ™ Spoonful: Summer in the City It was a huge hit all over Europe, but it somehow managed to pass America right by. With its layered harmonies and big beat, ABBAвЂ™s вЂњSummer Night CityвЂќ is not only one of the greatest summer songs, but one of the Swedish foursomeвЂ™s sexiest records. ColeвЂ™s sophistication carried the day this and the similar follow-up вЂњThat Sunday, That SummerвЂќ were his last Top 20 hits. Cole WonвЂ™t Rock & Roll.вЂќ This 1963 hit was about as close as he got, with an odd hybrid of early rock and German oompah music (like SinatraвЂ™s вЂњSummer Wind,вЂќ it was originally a German pop song). Nat King Cole was not too down with the kidsвЂ™ style of music вЂ“ on one of his live albums, he even recorded a sendup number called вЂњMr. It was his second hit of 1966 after вЂњStrangers in the Night.вЂќД¤6: Nat King Cole: Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

For Sinatra, the song continued a remarkable mid-60s run. But it was originally German, given a fresh coat of sunscreen by longtime Frank Sinatra collaborators Nelson Riddle (arrangement) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) вЂ“ the latter with the final hit of his lifetime. Given the breezy feel of this song, you might expect it was originally French or Brazilian. A chart-topper (in its original version) under two minutes long? A No.1 featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, three decades after вЂњAchy Breaky HeartвЂќ? And above all, a song that could top the country music and hip-hop charts simultaneously? Just plain impossible, but Lil Nas X did it. But вЂњOld Town RoadвЂ™sвЂќ success was not predictable. Surely you donвЂ™t need to be reminded of this one, which showed its mettle as a summer song by topping the Billboard Hot 100 for the entire summer of 2019. For added hilarity, seek out the version from one of those English hit-soundalike albums, sung by an incognito Elton John. Of course, the recordвЂ™s very silliness made it a classic, though leader Ray Dorset tried in vain to pursue a tougher image afterward. Even in 1970 hit singles seldom got goofier than this one, with its silly rhymes, its one endlessly repeated melodic lick, and its vocalized sound effects.

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